If you are looking for your customer facing teams to be aligned, here are some tips that will guide them in the right direction.

Tips for Marketing and Sales Alignment

• 1. Executive sponsorship is key – Alignment starts at the top. If the leader of the sales team and the leader of the marketing team are not in lock step, this will permeate down into the organization. It is not required that these two leaders report into the same person, they just need to be focused on achieving the same objective and agree on the plan to get there.
• 2. Align terminology – Sales and marketing must speak the same language. This helps manage expectations between marketing and sales internally as well as in customer facing conversations. One term that often causes confusion between internal teams is the word ‘lead’. Is a lead a person or an interaction? Is it a noun or a verb? Marketing advisory firms such as Sirius Decisions advise their clients to be more granular when it comes to definitions – leads can be marketing qualified leads, sales accepted leads or sales qualified leads. Having clear definitions for all terms and metrics and communicating these helps preempt misunderstandings between sales and marketing teams.
• 3. Align goals – People manage what they are measured on. Ensuring sales and marketing teams are measured on the same end goal is one way to ensure they are working towards the same outcome. Now, I am not suggesting that marketing should have a sales quota, but just that the marketing team needs to have a ‘skin in the game’. The game being bringing in new customers and managing them through their lifecycle. One example of how this could be done is aligning compensation in a way that while the sales rep is paid on the revenue number, the marketing rep’s compensation is split between the total number of leads they bring in and the quality of lead, i.e. the leads that result in revenue.
• 4. Create a joint plan – When a team creates a plan together they are usually more vested in ensuring its success. Create a joint team plan that documents the goals, activities and expected outcomes. If everyone cannot participate in the creation of the plan, make sure the plan is documented and communicated. The plan should not just be a calendar of marketing activities, but should also include sales spiffs, promotions and other activities that will help the team achieve their set goal.

• • 5. Put SLAs (Service Level Agreements) in place – According to a Harvard Business Review, companies that try to contact potential customers within an hour of receiving queries are nearly 7 times as likely to have meaningful conversations with key decision makers as firms that try to contact prospects even an hour later. Maybe an hour is not realistic for your company, but put in place realistic SLAs or service level agreements and hold the sales team responsible for what they commit to. From a marketing perspective, the commitment should be around the the number and quality of leads. Agreeing to these and delivering on these SLAs will build trust between sales and marketing and better alignment.

• 6. Celebrate successes together – The end goal and hence success for both sales and marketing should be the same thing. What I mean by that is, the marketing team should not be celebrating just because they have delivered the committed number of leads. Success should be when both teams’ objectives are achieved. Once that happens, don’t forget to celebrate and have some fun, because at the end of the day, teams that have fun together and are happy are likely to be more productive.
• 7. Use data and technology – The good news is there is a plethora of systems and technologies which if implemented correctly can help you achieve better alignment by providing visibility into what activities are planned, which ones are working and a better understanding of the buyer. Keep in mind, the insights from these systems are only as good as the data you put in and track. Also, make sure the systems are tightly integrated so that relevant information from any system is available at the point of communication with the buyer as well as for a wider analysis.

Today the lines between sales and marketing are blurring. Marketing and Sales both influence the buyer’s journey throughout the lifecycle. It is more critical than ever that we align marketing and sales, and that they function as one team. At the end of the day it’s about communication, visibility and accountability. Irrespective of whether the communication is written, in person or virtual – they can all work. The more visibility each team has into what the other has planned, committed to and delivered – the better the team will be aligned and the smoother the buyer’s experience will be in dealing with the company.

It begins with some self-awareness. Marketing holds the organizational mantle on creativity. They pride themselves on having all the right tools for assessing and understanding the customer need. They focus group test. They A/B test. Then after all the data has been gathered, they develop the most engaging campaigns ever. Sales is no different. They are one of the key pillars for organizational success. They stand in that magical circle called the “Moment of Truth”, and close deals. They brush up on their emotional intelligence skills. They develop deep client knowledge and wield it at the perfect time to bring the sale across the line.

This still happens today. Many organizations still rely on traditional marketing and sales teams to reach customers and deliver sales. But are they focused on the right metrics? The customer is more informed than ever before. The tables have been turned. The customer is now in the driver’s seat. Marketing and sales need to better understand the customer journey in a digital sense. Investing in new social and digital tools are not bad. But if sales and marketing don’t work together, they will never accomplish what they can together. And it begins by adding value.

At the Intersection of Value

Consider the graphic below. It has two lines. The gray line is representative of the customer journey. It has a beginning and a perceived end, which we’ll discover is not really an end at all. The black curved line is your business. As we move from left to right, the goal is to maximize the moments where these two lines intersect. Segments of the journey are indicated by brackets. They are Discovery, Research, Moments of Truth, and Customer Engagement. As these buyer touch-points occur, it’s our job to create and provide as much value as we can. It is in these moments where buyers form their thoughts about your brand. You must help them meet their need by providing value at every point along the way.

Marketing and sales have a unique opportunity to work together to deliver value at every stage of the customer journey. They first need to align on the major segments of that journey. After this is agreed upon, they must align on the value that is delivered at each one of those stages.

Creating Value at Every Stage

We’ve talked about the marketing/sales funnel and how it’s broken. We are in agreement that this is not where we have been before. So how do we know what value we should create at each buying stage? I’m so glad you asked. Let’s look at four typical stages along this customer journey.

• Discovery: The first area we need to tackle is when the buyer learns they have a need. Understanding this stage is a challenge. Start by asking your existing customers about what caused the need. What were they doing when they first discovered they needed your product/service? Where were they? This causal effect will assist you in determining the right content/value approach you should take. It will also help you understand what sites and channels are used when they discover it.
• Research: We all do it. The data doesn’t lie. Research shows that we are going online to find answers to all manner and kinds of questions. And your customers are doing it too. This has never been more true even in the car buying experience.
  

  Today, half of all car shoppers with mobile devices use their smartphones while at the dealership. The top action people perform with their phones while on the lot, not surprisingly, is confirming that they are getting a good price on a vehicle. Searches for Kelley Blue Book and competing dealers occur more often when at the dealership. – Think with Google

  These answers are the key to developing the value we seek to create. Learn as much as you can about where your customers are coming from. What sites do they visit when researching? Are they visiting your website? What content are they viewing? Is it valuable to the research they are doing?

• Moments of Truth: The buyer has become aware of the need. They’ve researched all the solutions. They will now enter the zone that we affectionately call the “Moment of Truth”. It is in this space where your potential customer will make a decision to buy. Our job is to engage the buyer with the reassurance of their buying decision. Sure we will have an amazing call-to-action. The button will be the perfect color and be in the perfect spot. But where is the value? When buyers make a decision, we must create the most value-filled buying experience possible. Is it easy to buy a product on your site? What does your follow up look like?
• Customer Engagement: Now that the buyer has become a customer, the value changes again. It now becomes a matter of user experience and engagement. When was the last time you used your own product? What questions popped up? Was it easy to find the answers? What if the answers were sent before you had the question? It is important that your customer sees the value in a long-term relationship.

Listen and Verify

But it does not stop at providing value. This does not automatically get you the sale. As any marketer worth their credentials will attest, you must always be listening. Each one of these touch-points should be tracked. It will provide you with the data you need to “listen” and verify that it is the right value being provided at the right stage.

For sales and marketing to be successful, it must retool. But more importantly, they must align their focus on providing value to the customer at every stage of the buying journey.

Marketing automation tools are valuable in helping you learn more about your customer. But the value doesn’t stop there. It can be assist you in creating a value-based customer journey that equips the buyer at every stage.

The realization that the activities one performs in the solitude of their home or office are actually public, is somehow a shock to many individuals. This is an all too common response for many consumers, especially those working outside of a technical industry. It is easy to feel distant and anonymous behind the shield of the computer screen. One no longer needs to interact on a face-to-face level in order to make purchases or schedule services, but this does not mean that you are in a private space. Many are scared of the idea that they are somehow being snooped on and that utilizing public information is an invasion of privacy.

Global Network

The internet is a global network, a shared public space where anyone can see anyone, if you choose to look. Online activity is interpreted into motivational values and in essence, a digital interpretation of consumer body language. Online consumers explore the expanse of goods, services and investments by traversing the spectrum of commerce websites. In a retail situation, real time feedback has always been the marketer’s best analysis, that is, with the proper tools and insight to turn it into sales. The A/B testing of item placement, color, interact-ability , and so on, is clear and instantaneous. So how does an online merchant or marketer view this feedback or “body language”?

Real Life Example

Picture this scenario. A shopper stands in a store and browses the items on display. Anyone who has ever worked in face to face sales knows what their gestures suggest about their acceptance or disapproval of that product. The sales person watches the customer pickup, touch, feel, and examine the product to see if this meets their requirements. The question is, what factors are at play in the consumer’s decision making and how does one gauge that process online?

In short, the first often unconscious, question the observer asks is “do I need this”, or does this at least catch my attention, a strategy often implemented by corporations selling mundane products. However, upon seeing the prospective client react to their experience of interaction with their potential acquisition, the retailer is able to change and adapt to the customer’s desired experience and an ever fluctuating market. This merchant-consumer relationship is what drives business and creates satisfied customers. So how does one apply these concepts to an online business?

Maintain Relationship Integrity

The most effective tools for maintaining the integrity of this relationship are those which collate information on web activity into consumer profiles. Whether the profile is used for lead tracking, nurturing, automation, or even individual sales, understanding your customer is always the first step to getting your product in their hands.

Marketing automation has brought real-time feedback into the online market. Based on the profile, associated values for different actions, and campaigns built to reach the customers who might truly want your product, the A/B testing of the shopkeeper’s careful observation has come back into play. Whether a sale is face-to-face or digital, it is always the same on some level. Each party has something that the other wants, and the exchange of goods is an active agreement to stand behind your product or service with pride.

People Matter

The internet may be dehumanizing and disconnected, but the human brain has not changed, nor has its expectations of the consumer relationship. We all understand that in order to grow, improve and succeed, one must continuously adapt and test new strategies. Gauge the customer’s response, interact with them on a personal or emotional level, and most importantly, meet them where they are in their lives (interest, need vs. want, price, purpose, energy level, etc.) Always engage, always improve, and always remember that no matter how different technology makes the world seem, people are the heart of a business, and that will never change.

How are you reading your customer’s body language?